Popular Superstitions: Burning of the ear (colour litho)

Burning of the ear. The idea that a burning or tingling of the ear means that one is being talked about originates from an ancient belief that the ear was thus affected by sounds which were conveyed considerable distances by some mystic agency. This is mentioned by Pliny, who "supposed it to have proceeded from the notion of a signifying genius, or universal mercury that conducted sounds to their distant subjects and taught to hear by touch." It is also said that if the right ear burns, you are being talked of kindly, but if the left ear burns, then the reverse is the case. This originates from the old belief that the Right is lucky, the Left unlucky, a belief which enters into many other superstitions. Illustration for one of a set of 25 cigarette cards on the subject of Popular Superstitions issued by Godfrey Phillips in 1930.